6 CHAPTER 6: Conviction

In Hueco Mundo, the concept of day and night, entertainment, and laws were as absent as cheerful colors in a graveyard, as if its creator sculpted it with a satirical nod to Hell.

Weary of the desolate ambience, Kazuya sought refuge in a natural cave tucked within a mountain.

"Ahhhhh," he groaned in frustration. "Kubo, you bastard. This is so hard."

Apacci looked at him oddly. "Kubo? Who is Kubo?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh. "I'm a little frustrated."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later. Let's rest for now."

Apacci agreed with the sentiment and laid flat on the ground. Her position revealed the see-through Hollow hole in her stomach. Discerning the symbolic meaning behind Apacci's Hollow hole was ridiculously simple.

She was fed up with being pursued. Thus, she craved the strength to survive.

He oversimplified her present desire, as he had no means of delving into her past life.

"Good night."

Kazuya folded his wings to make them as small as possible and rested his head on Apacci, careful to avoid her Hollow hole in case it caused her discomfort. Irritated by his wings, he turned to his side.

"Where do you think you're sleeping?!"

"We had a deal, remember? Let's add something else to it. I'll use you as a pillow. You can do the same when you become an Arrancar."

In her Arrancar form, she wasn't very tall, while he was nearly 6'3" — possibly taller after transforming into a Hollow. He could handle her with ease.

"Fine." Apacci huffed and rested her head on the ground. He was the most insolent man she had ever met, not that she had any chance to deeply know anyone beside him. "Ignorant guy."

"Wake me up if anyone tries to attack. Don't fight on your own."

And he was also the most considerate one.

Kazuya touched his mask, and dread consumed him. He hesitated in tearing off his mask, as a wrong step could spell his death.

'I'll find some Hollows to experiment with, preferably Adjuchas.'

Apacci glanced at him through her peripheral vision. His quiet reflection made her uneasy. "You keep mentioning Arrancar this, Arrancar that. What is an Arrancar?"

"A Hollow whose essence is closer to a Shinigami. We supposedly get this power from taking off our mask."

"Are you crazy?" Apacci retorted. "The mask is a part of our soul. Take off the mask and we'll lose the power to control Reiryoku. We might even die or reform into a Gillian."

Once an Adjuchas regressed, they could never regain their form. They would forever be stuck wandering the Hueco Mundo as a giant, mindless Gillian. No Adjuchas wanted to suffer from such fate, thus driving them to devour other Hollows.

Kazuya reached out and playfully tugged the unicorn-like horn protruding from her forehead. "Have faith in your determination to defy the norms... Well, who am I preaching to, anyway? You'd have been toast if I hadn't stepped up back there."

"I…" She wanted to say something but hesitated. "There is no point… Arrancar or not… we are just biding time. This is Hueco Mundo, dammit. Don't make me say the obvious."

They were going to die one day — she had realized the truth after witnessing the cycle of Hollows consuming the weaker ones. She wanted to die peacefully, if possible.

Kazuya didn't expect his teasing to elicit such a dramatic reaction from her. She was getting emotional over her eventual death.

"What obvious? That we're just prolonging our doom by surviving? That some Hollow will come that we can't defeat and devour us whole?"

Apacci nodded vigorously. "We can never be the strongest."

"You're underestimating the power of a Vasto Lorde Arrancar," he rebuked in an intense voice. "One more thing. After dying in the world of living, shouldn't we, Hollows, make the most out of life here? Are you ready to throw down the towel and let some disgusting worm tear you limb from limb and savor your juicy legs? You will let it happen without retaliating?"

He had felt weak in his entire life. Never ever was he going to experience the same fate.

Gnashing her teeth loudly, she threw a furious glare his way. "Hell no. I want to live in peace…"

"Then say it with me. I'll kick every ass in Hueco Mundo and become the strongest Arrancar."

"Why are you making me say embarrassing things?"

"Say it."

His whisper brushed by her ears, making her groan. "I'll kick every a-ass and become… the strongest Arrancar!"

She doubted herself until she said it out aloud. His conviction forced her to believe that she, a Hollow who barely held enough Reiatsu to be an Adjuchas, could become the strongest Arrancar.

She felt refreshed, so much so that she repeated in a cheery voice, "I'll become the strongest Arrancar!"

Kazuya smiled at her brimming confidence. "We're off to such a fantastic start, young lady!"

***

After a dreamless sleep, Kazuya absentmindedly browsed through the status shown by his System.

[General Information]

Name — Kazuya Ishihara

Gender — Male

Race — Hollow (Vasto Lorde)

Reiryoku Level — Great Level (Captain-Class)

Alignment — Neutral Evil

Affiliation — None

…

Racial Abilities

[Cero: Reiryoku offensive technique

Mastery level - Intermediate.]

[Sonido: Movement technique

Mastery level - Basic.]

[Garganta: Limited Spatial Distortion technique.

Mastery level - Yet to learn.]

He had already grasped all the basic Vasto Lorde abilities except for Garganta. Garganta was useful for crossing over to the World of Living and Seireitei. He left its mastery for later, focusing on enhancing the combat abilities first.

'The World of Living.'

The faces of his ex-girlfriend and friend surfaced in his mind. He had come from a different universe; otherwise, he wouldn't possess any meta knowledge of this universe. That much was clear to him.

'They must have buried me… if Terrorist-san was kind enough to leave my body intact.'

As much as he missed their presences, he preferred his new life. Sure, it was boring at a glance, but he had the freedom to go anywhere!

While cheering himself up like a fool, he spotted an intriguing detail in the System interface. Every row, except his equipment and abilities, had a pencil icon at the end; he tapped the symbol next to the gender out of curiosity.

[Options available for 'Gender' stat:

1 - Male

2 - Female

3 - Futa

…]

The list went on forever, showing absurd names as gender.

'Helicopter?! How is that a gender?'

Kazuya regretted experimenting on gender stat. At least he discovered one crucial element from this mishap — he could customize his status to some degree. The System referred to itself as 'Character System' for this very reason. His eyes wandered to the race icon, which sported the same pencil icon.

'Will it work?'

He gulped down his saliva. Every race in Bleach had unique abilities. Shinigami had Zanpakutō, which could unlock Shikai and Bankai stages. Hollow had Cero, Sonído, then Arrancar had their own versions of Zanpakutō to release different forms. Quincy with their own set of abilities, like Blut Vene and other busted techniques. Then there were Fullbringers born from extremely rare circumstances.

The versatility of every race — he'd love to possess that power. Only one person in the Bleach Universe will come to have blood from each major race — Ichigo Kurosaki, the protagonist. The godly hybrid of Shinigami, Quincy, Hollow, and Fullbringer. Even that level of power failed against the Almighty Yhwach. It just went to show how terrifying the Father of Quincy truly was.

With glazed eyes, he reached for the edit button positioned after the Race option while bracing for disappointment.

[Options available for 'Race':

Soul

Human]

The two options startled him. The second option seemed utterly unnecessary. He didn't want to become 'powerless' again.

'Can you show things in more detail?'

Defying his expectations, a long list of options appeared before him.

***

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